1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to fuel supply systems, and more particularly, to fuel supply systems that supply fuel to an internal combustion engine of a vehicle and that have additional vibration reduction means.
2. Description of the Related Art
Known fuel supply systems for an internal combustion engine may include a fuel pump, a fuel filter that is disposed around the fuel pump, and a housing that is disposed within a fuel tank for housing the fuel pump and the fuel filter. When such a fuel supply system is installed in a vehicle, vibrations generated in the fuel pump may be transmitted to the fuel tank via the fuel filter, the housing, and fuel within the fuel tank. When vibrations generated in the fuel pump are transmitted to the fuel tank, the fuel tank may vibrate and produce vibration noises. Naturally, a correlation exists between fuel tank vibration and the overall noise produced by the vehicle. Thus, reduction of noises emanating from the fuel supply system has been a long-felt need in the field in order to further reduce noise generated by the vehicle.
It is, accordingly, an object of the present invention to reduce or prevent vibrations that are generated by the fuel pump from being transmitted to the fuel tank to thereby prevent the fuel tank from vibrating.
In one aspect of the present teachings, a damping material is disposed on sidewall of a fuel pump housing. The fuel pump and housing are then disposed within the fuel tank. The damping material effectively reduces the amount of fuel tank vibration or prevents the fuel tank from vibrating as a result of vibrations generated by the fuel pump.
In another aspect of the present teachings, the damping material is preferably disposed at the location on the housing in which the housing vibrations are the greatest. If the fuel pump is disposed vertically within the housing along the inner periphery thereof, the vibrations are generally the greatest in the upper end portion of the housing. Accordingly, in such a case, the damping material is preferably disposed in the upper end portion of the housing.
In another aspect, the damping material may include an elastic material having a specific gravity of about 0.12 to about 0.4 grams/cubic centimeters. Rubber foam is considered to be an appropriate elastic material.
Moreover, the damping material may include a fuel-resistant paper material, such as filter paper that is ordinarily utilized in fuel filters to filter the fuel. The damping material can be formed superimposing a plurality of sheets of the paper material one on another or by folding sheets of the paper material two or more times.
Additional objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be readily understood after reading the following detailed description together with the accompanying drawings and the claims.